“Text me when you get home” is how a lot of people say I love you without saying it.

Plain words for love are hard for a lot of people, so care gets routed through logistics. Checking that you made it back is a way of saying your continued existence matters to somebody’s evening, without anybody having to get sentimental about it. Once you learn to hear it, the house is full of it: a plate left out, a tank filled, a question about your coat.

Answer those messages. It costs four seconds and it closes a loop somebody has been holding open. And try sending one yourself, to a parent or a grandparent, because they have usually spent years doing the asking without being asked.